We have all seen the video of the Polaris RZR flying around in the YouTube video series XP1K, but who is the masked man in the video and how did he get so lucky to do something like that. One of the hottest, youngest, champion off-road drivers in the sport is the simple answer.

RJ Anderson is a name that if you do not know immediately who he is, as soon as someone says the guys doing the crazy UTV YouTube videos, off-road fans know exactly who he is. To others he is known for much, much more.

RJ Anderson and his short-course truck behind him.

RJ has a list of accomplishments in his relatively short off-road racing career that include the following:

• 2015 ProLite Champion
• 2014 Pro2 Rookie of the Year
• 2012 Lucas Oil Off Road Driver of the Year
• 2012 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) ProLite Champion
• 2011 ProLite Rookie of the Year
• 2011 UTV Champion
• 2011 LOORRS Challenge Cup Winner

For the last two years Polaris RZR teamed up with Mad Media and UTVUndergroud to document and thing and everything RJ Anderson. This is the first of six episodes in the series that covers his RJ37 race team.

A throwback picture to RJ’s Trophy Kart days.

Not everyone is born into the sport, but in RJ’s cases he was. His father was working and racing with Walker Evans, and the company was the first one to support RJ in his racing efforts. RJ grew up in the heart of the off-road world in Riverside, California.

RJ racing around in his Polaris RZR.

RJ’s dad Randy recalls, “We went to CORR race where they had Trophy Karts, and RJ immediately said that he wanted one.” RJ’s first taste of off-road racing was in the kart, and was never meant to turn into a large race team, but something that got the family out and together.

The Trophy Kart turned into a UTV, then into a ProLite, and now even a Pro2. RJ remembers being an underdog in the RZR, and being underpowered compared to the Rhinos. Polaris came to RJ and started supporting their program because they wanted to see their brand on top of the podium.

RJ literally started from the bottom making his way up to one of the top classes in short-course racing.

Polaris listened to RJ and his team, and in no time they started working together. Randy started working with Polaris on the business side of things making their product better, while RJ worked on the racing side making them faster.

RJ started racing UTV’s at the age of 15 and raced until he was 19. The UTV market changed dramatically in that time, and in the end they turned Polaris into not just a winning platform, but into the dominate platform in the industry.

This will be a great video series that will really give fans of off-road a behind the scenes look at one of the top young gun drivers in the sport. Stay tuned for episode two as they talk about short-course off-road racing and look at two of RJ’s most successful moments.